More than 45 CEOs, regulators, former ministers and top analysts converge on La Jolla, October 13–15
Watch the Institute of the Americas’ conference video here. La Jolla: Where the Americas’ Energy Future Is Debated.
EnergiesNet-Petroleumworld
La Jolla, California
petroleumworld.com 09 27 2026
When the Institute of the Americas opens the 35th edition of its La Jolla Energy Conference on October 13, the most striking feature of the program will be who is in the room. More than 45 confirmed speakers make up this year’s lineup: chief executives of national and independent oil companies, sitting regulators, former energy ministers, and some of the most closely followed analysts and academics working on the hemisphere’s energy sector. Together they form one of the strongest rosters assembled this year for a discussion of oil, gas and power in Latin America.
Venezuela in the Spotlight
Nowhere is that depth more evident than on Venezuela. On Thursday, October 15, the second day of sessions, the Institute opens its country deep dives with “Venezuela’s New Reality: Financing Recovery from Upstream Oil & Gas to Pipelines to Electric Grids.” The session tackles the question now hanging over the hemisphere’s oil sector: who will put up the capital to rebuild the country with the world’s largest proven crude reserves, and on what terms?
The panel reflects how seriously the Institute is taking the question. It brings together Francisco Monaldi, director of the Latin America Energy Program at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and one of the foremost authorities on Venezuelan oil; Barbara Blakely, Shell’s regional head of corporate relations for Latin America and the Caribbean; Ángel Cárdenas, infrastructure manager at CAF, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean; and David Voght, managing director of IPD Latin America. Juancho Eekhout, vice president of development at Sempra Infrastructure, moderates.
Together they bring the analytical, corporate, multilateral and infrastructure perspectives any credible recovery plan will need. The panel spans the full chain, from upstream fields to pipelines to a power grid that has failed repeatedly in recent years.
Beyond Venezuela, the lineup covers the region’s major oil and gas stories, from Guyana’s offshore boom to Argentina’s LNG ambitions and Brazil’s election-year policy outlook.
The Leadership Behind the 35th
The program is the work of the Institute’s leadership. Richard Kiy, President and CEO of the Institute of the Americas, and Jeremy M. Martin, vice president for energy, shaped this year’s agenda as both a commemoration and a forward-looking debate. In a conversation with EnergiesNet-Petroleumworld in August, Martin said the 35th edition stays true to the conference’s founding mission of bringing together the hemisphere’s most serious voices on energy security, market volatility and the challenges of the transition. He framed the anniversary less as a celebration than as a moment to reset expectations and push for pragmatic solutions.
That approach shows in the agenda, which takes on the region’s most contested issues directly: Venezuela’s recovery, Brazil’s elections, political change in Colombia and Peru, and the new geopolitics of energy and trade. Martin will also moderate several of Thursday’s country sessions.
They are supported by the Institute’s network of non-resident fellows: Chris Sladen, Nelson Narciso, Carla Lacerda, Leonardo Beltrán, Francisco Salazar, Thiago de Aragão, Trinidad Castro, Andrés Chambouleyron and Cecilia Aguillón.
The Operators
The upstream and infrastructure voice at La Jolla comes from executives who run assets across the region.
They include Felipe Bayón, CEO of GeoPark and former president of Ecopetrol; Nicolás Spinelli, CEO of Uruguay’s state energy company ANCAP; Rocío La Torre, Shell’s JV asset manager and country chair for Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, the Hispanic Caribbean and Central America; Craig A. Kelly, senior director of international government affairs at ExxonMobil, the company at the center of Guyana’s offshore boom; James Gardiner of Excelerate Energy, speaking on LNG; and Narcís de Carreras, CEO of Valia Energía, who joins Sempra’s Eekhout on Mexico’s gas and power crossroads.
The Regulators
Two sitting regulators from the region’s largest producing and gas markets will also take part.
Pietro Mendes, director of Brazil’s National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), joins a session on Brazil’s elections and energy. Griselda Lambertini, director of Argentina’s Ente Nacional Regulador del Gas y Electricidad (ENREGE), addresses Argentina’s move from Vaca Muerta to LNG exports, the RIGI investment regime and critical minerals.
Thirty-Five Years of Policymaking
A special anniversary session, “35 Years in a Flash,” brings together longtime policymakers and investors to reflect on the pivotal moments, reforms and transformations that have defined the hemisphere’s energy landscape since the conference began in 1991.
The panelists are Marcelo Tokman, former energy minister of Chile and former director of ENAP, now chairman of Cox Chile; Pedro Sánchez, former energy and mines minister of Peru; Armando Zamora, former president of Colombia’s ANH, now with New Producers for Sustainable Energy; and Verónica Irastorza, former deputy secretary of energy of Mexico, now with FTI Consulting. Chris Sladen and Jeremy Martin moderate.
Kevin Ramnarine, former energy minister of Trinidad and Tobago, joins the Caribbean Basin panel.
Analysts, Financiers and Advisors
The analytical bench is equally deep, spanning the leading energy intelligence firms, academia and the policy world.
It includes Bob Fryklund, chief upstream strategist at S&P Global Energy; Amanda Nelson of S&P Global; Jimena Blanco, chief geopolitics and Latin America analyst at Verisk Maplecroft; David G. Victor of UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy; Duncan Wood of Hurst International Consulting; and Ambassador Thomas Shannon of Arnold & Porter, former U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, who will speak on the new geopolitics of energy, trade and the China question.
On the financing side, John Beckham of the North American Development Bank joins CAF.
Advisory, legal and technical voices come from FTI Consulting (Damián Martínez), ERM (Ricardo Zibas and Ivette Catalán), Ankura (Jeremy Erndt), Holland & Knight (José Vicente Zapata), EPRI (Andrew Coleman), OLACDE (Guido Maiulini), Integra Lithium (José Gustavo de Castro Alem), Komatsu (Carlos Fonseca) and EnClim (Roberto Ferreira da Cunha), along with Caribbeanenergy.net founder Dax Driver.
A Forum Born of Change
The Institute launched the conference in 1991, at a time of sweeping change across the hemisphere driven by privatization, globalization and regional integration, with the aim of encouraging investment and high-level dialogue. Over three and a half decades it has grown into a leading forum for frank, senior-level discussion of energy policy and investment in Latin America and the Caribbean, helped by a distinctive setting that has fostered lasting professional connections. The Institute says this 35th edition is designed both to celebrate that history and to take stock of how profoundly the global energy sector has changed since the first meeting in La Jolla.
The Program
The conference opens Tuesday, October 13, with a gala anniversary dinner.
Wednesday, October 14, is devoted to the big debates and thematic sessions.
One panel examines the disruption and volatility reshaping energy markets, and how they are accelerating structural change in energy sources and supply chains. Chaired by Carla Lacerda, it brings together ANCAP, UC San Diego, ERM and S&P Global Energy.
Another looks at the new geopolitics of energy and trade, from security and tariffs to China’s growing presence in the region and the role of middle powers. Francisco Salazar chairs a panel with Arnold & Porter, Verisk Maplecroft, FTI Consulting and the Institute of the Americas.
A session on the new energy map of the Americas explores how the region can move from energy security toward resilience and competitiveness. Chaired by Trinidad Castro and Carla Lacerda, it features GeoPark, Shell and OLACDE.
Critical minerals are also on the agenda, with a focus on processing, industrial strategy and building a competitive circular economy. Chris Nyce chairs a panel with Integra Lithium, Komatsu and Hurst International Consulting.
Another panel tackles the challenge of powering the AI economy: data centers, grids, water, reliability and affordability, along with the social license these projects require. Chaired by Andrés Chambouleyron and Leonardo Beltrán, it brings together NADBank, EPRI, ERM and Ankura.
The anniversary session looks back on 35 years of energy reform and investment through the eyes of former energy ministers and senior officials from Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico. Chris Sladen and Jeremy Martin chair.
A roundtable considers what the U.S. midterm elections mean for the region.
Thursday, October 15, turns to country and regional deep dives.
Venezuela opens the country discussions, with a session on how to finance the recovery of its oil, gas, pipeline and power sectors. Juancho Eekhout of Sempra Infrastructure chairs a panel with the Baker Institute, Shell, CAF and IPD Latin America.
The Caribbean Basin session looks at the region’s potential as an energy powerhouse. Chaired by Dax Driver of Caribbeanenergy.net, it features a former energy minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Excelerate Energy and ExxonMobil.
Colombia and Peru are examined as both countries navigate political change alongside new energy opportunities. Jeremy Martin chairs, with Holland & Knight on the panel.
In a session on future energy leaders, graduate students from UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy share how they see the energy sector evolving over the next five to ten years. Cecilia Aguillón and Jeremy Martin chair.
Brazil’s elections and their implications for energy policy are the focus of another panel. Chaired by Nelson Narciso, it brings together Brazil’s ANP, EnClim and the Institute of the Americas.
Argentina’s session traces the path from Vaca Muerta to global LNG markets, along with the RIGI investment regime and critical minerals. Jeremy Martin chairs a panel with Argentina’s ENREGE and S&P Global.
Mexico’s gas and power crossroads rounds out the country discussions. Francisco Salazar and Leonardo Beltrán chair a panel with Valia Energía and Sempra Infrastructure.
Thirty-five years after its first edition focused on privatization and market reform, the La Jolla Energy Conference returns with the people best placed to explain where the region’s oil and gas story goes next. On Venezuela, above all, the industry will be listening.
Elio Ohep, editor@petroleumworld.com
EnergiesNet.com 09 27 2026
